Book Notes: 2015 Get Lit headliners
The 2015 Get Lit schedule has gone live.
The annual literary festival, sponsored by Eastern Washington University, will include local luminaries Jess Walter, Sherman Alexie and Shawn Vestal, first-time novelists Sharma Shields, Kris Dinnison and S.M. Hulse, as well as local favorites Bruce Holbert, Sam Ligon, Greg Spatz and John Keeble. Local poets Thom Caraway, Tod Marshall and Maya Jewell Zeller will be joined by out-of-towners Carlos Reyes, Prartho Sereno, Rick Barot and Gary Copeland Lilley.
On April 23, Shields – author of “The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac” – will team up for an event with Benjamin Percy, the author of two novels, “Red Moon” and “The Wilding,” as well as two short story collections. On April 24, Vestal (“Godforsaken Idaho”) will share the stage with Walter Kirn, author of eight books, including the novels “Up in the Air” and “Thumbsucker,” both of which were made into movies.
The seven-day festival – it runs April 20-26 – will include workshops, readings, a live presentation of the Walter and Alexie podcast “A Tiny Sense of Accomplishment” and the return of the very popular “Pie & Whiskey.” For details, visit getlitfestival.org.
EWU visitor
Speaking of Get Lit, the festival is teaming up with EWU’s Inland Northwest Center for Writers in presenting visiting writer Elizabeth Graver on Friday.
Graver is the author of four novels, the latest of which, “The End of the Point,” was long-listed for the 2013 National Book Award and made the New York Times’ Notable Books of the Year list. Her other books include the story collection, “Have You Seen Me?”, which won the Drue Heinz literature prize in 1991. She teaches at Boston College.
Graver will read, answer questions and sign books at 8 p.m. Friday at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main St. For more information, visit http://getlitfestival.org/ visiting-writers.
On the bookshelf
KPBX’s books on the air program, “The Bookshelf,” will wrap up with Marilynne Robinson’s “Housekeeping” on Monday. For the following month, listeners can check out the “We Sagebrush Folks” by Annie Pike Greenwood. The story centers on life on a hardscrabble farm in Southern Idaho in the early years of the 20th century. It’ll be read by Nancy Routh.
Coming later will be “Short Nights for the Shadowcatcher,” Tim Egan’s biography of pioneering photographer Edward Curtis.
“The Bookshelf” airs at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday on 91.1 FM.